Patrons, Agents, Societies

The Wagner societies played an essential role in the fulfillment of the Bayreuth project from 1871 onward. As no support from the state was available, this network of societies seemed to be the only means by which the future of the festival could be guaranteed. In this situation, organizing a collection was a pioneering activity, but it was also apt to rouse suspicion among contemporaries, which explains the fact that enthusiasm was not as great as it might have been. The first Bayreuth Festival led to organizational reforms, and, in 1877, a general Patronat-Verein was established as the parent organization of the societies. According to Paragraph I of the parent society's laws, the central activity of the societies was to work for the arrangement and fulfillment of the festival along Richard Wagner's lines. Paragraph II states that the societies should operate in two directions: they had to manage the financing so as to ensure the possibility of an annual festival; and they were to endeavor to spread the knowledge of Wagner's art. The third paragraph set out the membership fees and ticket prices. It was decided that the annual membership fee should be 100 German marks and the price of a ticket 100 marks. According to an additional clause, the societies were allowed to sell tickets to their members at a lower price than to nonmembers.

After the first festival, Wagner concluded that, financially speaking, the project had been a complete failure. It had been a large-scale operation: the operatic theater had been built, the orchestra and soloists had been hired, and the costumes, stage decorations, and facilities had been acquired. The total cost was 1,281,000 German marks, and in addition, Wagner still owed 216,000 marks out of a loan he had received in 1873 from the Bavarian State Treasury. It was obvious that the next festival could not take place in the following year. Wagner considered withdrawing from the whole venture and selling his theater to the state of Bavaria or possibly to private entrepreneurs in the field. He even planned to emigrate to the United States.

The debt to the Bavarian state was paid off in March 1878, after which the financial situation was eased.